CANBERRA, ACT. — Indi MHR Helen Haines has called on the Federal Government to bring its Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation Bill on for a vote when Parliament returns in early August, following Telstra’s nationwide outage.
The disruption affected mobile services, broadband, wi-fi, EFTPOS terminals, ATMs and also limited access to Triple Zero.
The Government introduced the Bill almost eight months ago, but it is yet to be voted on. Dr Haines said the outages demonstrated why reliable telecommunications must be treated as an essential service.
“The Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation would require telcos to use satellite technology to ensure calls and SMS are always available outside, giving certainty Australians can access a reliable mobile service wherever they live, work and travel,” Dr Haines said.
“While this legislation would not have prevented the technical failure that caused [the] Telstra outage, the Government’s failure to progress these reforms shows it is not moving with the urgency required to address Australia’s telecommunications challenges.
“This legislation is a generational opportunity to guarantee Australians a minimum level of mobile connectivity, but it cannot remain stuck on the notice paper.”
“The Government must bring this bill on for debate and work constructively with the Parliament to strengthen telecommunications reliability and resilience.,” Dr Haines said in a media statement.
